Witness the highest flying, fastest plane on earth, the SR-71 Blackbird. This plane is also known as the â€œThe Sledâ€? or â€œHabu.â€? The Blackbird can travel at speeds of mach 3 plus, equal to a mile every 2 seconds. It can photograph 100,000 square miles of terrain every hour. The SR-71 can fly from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles in 64 minutes. The range of this aircraft is 3,500 miles without in flight re-fueling. It can create a double sounding sonic boom called â€œThe Sound of Freedom.â€?
The SR-71 was designed by Kelly Johnson and the Lockheed Skunk Works. A product of the A-12 family of aircraft, the SR-71 first flew on December 22, 1964. A year later the SR-71B trainer version made its first flight. SACS 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beal Air Force Base in California accepted the first operational SR-71 May 10th 1966. Thirty-one aircraft were delivered to the Beal U.S. Air Force Base over the next 4 years.
The aircraft is powered by 2 after burning Pratt and Whitney J 58 turbo jet engines that burn a special JP7 fuel. The plane can reach heights of 92, 500 feet, but it is thought to have gone as far as 100,000 feet high. That is 13 miles above the earth. The SR-71 carries no armament. KC135 Tankers are used for in-flight refueling. The Blackbird is mostly made of titanium and is the worldâ€™s first stealth aircraft.
The SR-71 flew its first combat mission on March 21st 1968, from the Cadina Air Base on the island of Okinawa, Japan. The mission was an over-flight of North Vietnam. The SR-71â€™s also flew out of RAF Mildenhall in England. These planes were involved with missions over the NATO Warsaw pact theater of operations including Egypt, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, and Libya. In addition, SR-71â€™s also flew missions over Russia.
You will get unfettered access to the SR-71 in this documentary. Watch an international crisis unfold and learn how the SR-71 plays a key role in intelligence reconnaissance. Witness as the Blackbird goes on one mission after another. You will watch the planning that goes into an SR-71 mission. Watch the SR-71 during a safety check and in-flight refueling.
As you witness the international crisis unfolding, learn how the images from the SR-71 dictate U.S. Policy. Are these images enough to ward off an international crisis? Watch and see for yourself.